Senator Howe, Senate Republicans raise questions on SOS directing voters to partisan websites on election day

On Super Tuesday, multiple Minnesota residents and members of the media reported that the official Minnesota Secretary of State’s office website was redirecting voters looking for their polling place to BoldProgressives.org. The site belongs to a progressive PAC that solicits donations, collects voter information, and has endorsed Sen. Warren for president, as well as reelection endorsements for other candidates such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar.

Voters who were directed to the partisan website before going to cast their votes were greeted with a banner that read: “Vote for bold progressive candidates on election day” and asked to give their info to find their polling location.

“I am deeply disturbed by the actions of the Secretary of State’s office on Tuesday, and troubled by the thought that this could be foreshadowing disaster in our Minnesota election come November,” said Senator Jeff Howe (R-Rockville). “Minnesotans are supposed to trust the Secretary of State’s office as a nonpartisan resource during our elections to ensure a fair and balanced process.  To redirect Minnesota voters to a partisan organization that endorses candidates and collects voter information is a gross miscarriage of that duty. How Secretary Simon and his staff thought this an ok alternative should raise a red flag for all Minnesotans. If we cannot trust our institutions how can we ensure that our elections will be fair and safe? I hope that Secretary Steve Simon puts an immediate end to this behavior by holding the employee and their supervisor accountable by pursuing charges.  Secretary Simon must ensure that a catastrophic failure like this can never happen again.”